Since the Vegas trip was going to be expensive, we tried to find a cheap flight to save a little money. And we did, but the worth of that was a little debatable.
We flew Spirit airlines out of the Akron-Canton (CAK) airport and left Thursday evening. The bag drop was easy, and the trip through security was pretty easy. We were running a little early and waited until it was time for our “zone” to board. We found our seats and then sat, reluctantly.
Spirit airlines is pretty much no-frills and it was reflected in the extreme close quarters and expensive snacks. The more people you can pack in, the more money you can make on each flight. And we were packed in – no leg-room and shoulder to shoulder. I felt like a little kid hiding in a cardboard box that was having fun for 5 minutes – and then wanted to be done.
Instead, we were stuck there for 4 hours.
With some careful maneuvering, I was able to get to my stash of paper and spent the entire trip – save for a short break to buy some snacks – folding modular shapes. Jim worked on his homework and we both tried to make the best of it – though my legs and shoulders started to hurt. And I started to go a little stir crazy.
With my hands finally tired out, I stopped one of the flight attendants and gave away all that I’d made – one module construct for each of the attendants working. She was delighted and eagerly took them to the front of the cabin to share.
She came back in a few minutes with a bottle of water and a bag of peanut M&M’s to say thank you from the crew. Which made me delighted. 🙂
We finally landed and were able to stand up with some difficulty. Not the most comfortable way I’ve ever spent 4 hours, but it was tolerable.
The return trip was not quite so nice.
We were running a little late getting to the airport on Saturday night and the line for the bag drop was huge. Getting through that was a chore, but we were on our way to security. Not unsurprisingly, the agents on duty were long on shouting and short on clarity. There was some confusion, but didn’t get slowed too much – though it was a near thing.
Then it was on to the gate and just enough time to use the restroom before we boarded.
This time, though, we were sort of expected to sleep and the cabin was dark. I tried, but failed to find a comfortable spot and so spent the next few hours trapped in the dark and miserable.
It felt pretty hopeless. I tried leaning forward to rest my head on the seat in front, but it was too bumpy. Jim and I tried leaning on each other, but it didn’t work. And I wasn’t quite tall enough to put my head back on the headrest. I kept trying those three directions over and over and just kept failing. So I sat. And waited. In the dark.
Finally, though, some good news. We had a tailwind and arrived a half hour early. Huzzah!
Except… the ground crew wasn’t there yet. They weren’t expecting us until 4 am local time and so we sat on the ground – still trapped in the plane and in our seats for a half an hour.
Which is nothing compared to some horror stories I’ve heard, but as an infrequent flyer it was a pretty big deal for me.
And so we waited. And waited.
Finally, the plane move again and into position. And, horrors, the people in the forward seats were slow to move when finally given the chance. One guy even had to back-track to get a bag he forgot. Seriously? You had all that time to plan…
Once off the plane we waited for our bag, then waited for the shuttle, then finally got to the car. We paid for parking and I drove us back to Akron.
So, a cheap flight. But it was still expensive in other ways. I’m not a good traveler and my next flight is either going to be short and cheap – or I’ll pay for some extra frills if I have to travel longer.
Like even an inch more of leg room.
That would be heaven, I think.